Through the eyes of a spirit
by Silvaria
Summary: So, there are these things called umbras? And this guy wants us to stop a guy who likes machina? Oh, and Malpercio's involved? The gods must hate me... Warning: Spoilers!
1. Prolouge

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Baten Kaitos Origins. I only own...well, not really anything. Huh.**_

_**Well, here's my first fic. Finally. It is from BKO, and you can kind of guess what it'll be like. So.. please enjoy!**_

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**Prologue: The end and beginning  
**

_No...it can't be! He isn't dead yet! _ I was shocked for a moment, seeing as I felt no sadness, only anger. I shook it off. I would have time to mourn later. I attempted to take a deep breath, the action only casing me to nearly cough. I couldn't do that now. Not now...

Through the strong light now surrounding me, I could see the figures standing there, with odd... faces? No, they were masks. I couldn't see anything that was on my sides, or behind me, and for that I was glad. The two at the front said something, and I tried to raise my sword. The strange silhouette was too fast, and I felt a deep, wrenching, awful _pain _from my stomach. I started screaming as my entire field of vision was covered in red. I felt myself being lifted off the ground as my vision faded to black. The pain, my headache, and all my emotions broke, and suddenly everything was black.

_No..._

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_**Wow... that was a bit depressing. Don't worry, it'll get better. And hopefully this story won't fall into the angst category.**_

_**Read and Review!**_


	2. Chapter One: Meetings

_**Well...Now to the main story!And I got a review! Hooray!**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Baten Kaitos Origins.**_

_**Let's get on with this!**_

_**Oh, and if you couldn't tell, italics are thoughts.**_

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**Chapter One: Meetings**

_Ugh... where am I?_ There was this room... and then it was gone. Now I was going at an almost impossible speed down a golden hallway, covered in pipes. _Wait... who am I, anyway?_ First, maybe I should think a name up... _Oh, I've got something! Hmm... Naren? Odd. But, the name seems right, so I'll keep it._

Everything was going by fast, so it was hard to see anything. I could notice two constants, though. A woman with blue-green hair. It was long, and her clothes didn't look new. And the second... a small boy, who didn't look even two yet, being carried by the woman. He had large blue eyes, at least proportional to his face, along with blue hair. He was wearing this strange white outfit. It reminded of when someone was sick... Well, whatever gave me that thought, it's gone now. I could tell that those two were out of the building they were in. I managed to follow them, but I still didn't know how. _I'll worry about that later,_ I decided, after seeing the two enter a desert area. In the distance, I noticed a huge city made of metal. It seemed to have a cloud over it, along with a lot of lights. Even at the speed I was going, which I had no idea on how I was maintaining, it should at least take five minutes. That would give me time to check on how I was doing.

I looked down at myself. It seemed that I was a boy. I was wearing a red jacket that was made of an odd material. Underneath that, I had a black T-shirt on, with matching pants. I had deeply stained brown travel boots on. I also happened to be nearly completely transparent. I couldn't tell how my hair looked, but at least I knew it was short. And, guessing from that machine I just passed that was spewing white powder everywhere, I'm somewhere in the 5' 6" foot to 6' range. I couldn't get an exact guess, seeing it was gone in about five seconds. _Wow, aren't we acting very precise today?_ A voice said in my head. _Where did that come from...? Well, I'd better loosen up, I guess, seeing as I'm about to enter that huge city.  
_  
From the moment I entered, I didn't like the place. First off: the air. Seeing as I was transparent, I assumed I wouldn't smell anything. Breathing as a ghost-thing was completely pointless. But I couldn't help it. And the smell... it was horrible. I actually coughed when I first entered, and learned not to breathe too deeply. _Now, why was that familiar...? Oh well._ I saw people riding on machines that hovered over the ground. There were pipes spewing a thick gas everywhere, probably which was causing the cloud over the area. I didn't understand either. Why didn't people use their wings, like the lady was? Speaking of which, she had just put them away. I was suddenly going a lot slower. And the pipes didn't seem to serve a function, except to launch gas into the air. As I passed by one, I ended up holding my breath. I had just discovered the cause of the awful smell. And what was really bad was the fact that I was stuck there for a few minutes before I was propelled a few yards. Ugh.

After that, I noticed I was by a large building. In front of me, a platform opened up into the sky. The sky itself was an array of red, orange, yellow, and purple. It must be sunset. And the edge just drops off... _I wonder what's at the bottom?_ First things first. Is it even possible for me to move? Because when I was going before, it was more of a "being thrown" sensation. _Well, seeing as my legs are moving, I think that means I can walk._

I decided to go over to the edge. I looked down and froze. There was nothing. I couldn't see any land, any water... just endless sky. That's enough to creep a person out quite a bit. Something that does that job better is someone walking right through you when you're already in a shocked state. Something that also happened to me. I considered yelling at the guy, then thought better of it. Since I could be walked through, I probably couldn't be heard. After getting control of myself, I noticed this huge blue fish-boat thing that was coming into the platform. It had a piece of meat hanging in front of its face off of a string. I'm guessing that it's a carnivore._ Note to self: Stay away from the huge fish._ Everyone who was on the platform, which I realized was a port, got into a line. Slowly they filed onto the fish. I was now wondering if it even was a fish, since the line is entering inside of it. I noticed the woman with the little boy in the line. I had a strange urge to go over by them. I decided to. I mean, what else could I do? Jump off the dock?

Eventually we got to the front of the line. By the entrance there was guy with a large sheet of paper in his hand.

"Names and ages, ma'am?" He said, getting a pen out. The woman got a handful of coins out.

"Gena and Sagi. One adult and child under three." She replied, handing the coins to him. So, the fish thing is apparently some kind of ferry. The guy wrote something on his paper, and handed them a small slip.

"Thank you for riding. Enjoy your trip!" He said, before Gena went into the ship. I started feeling a slight tugging at my body._ Now, that's odd._ I saw her get on the covered area on top of the fish and sit at the bench farthest from me. _Well, now that that expedition is over, I'm going to check this area out,_ I thought as I headed away from the ferry fish. But once I got near the huge building, I felt myself being launched, or something like it. The next thing I knew I was standing right next to Gena and Sagi. _So I can't go too far from them. Well, now I know how I was going so fast before._ I thought grimly.

"All aboard! The skyliner bound for Hasseleh is ready for departure!" The guy shouted, and I felt us being lifted. _The fish is flying! I saw it come in, so I knew it could do it... but wow! _I started getting excited. Then I looked back at the two I couldn't leave, remembered my situation, and sighed.

"Well...this sucks," I muttered as the ferry took off. _I don't even know what is going on, but it doesn't seem good. Or at least entertaining._ I also felt really depressed for some reason.

No sooner did I start brooding for whatever reason, Sagi started crying. I turned toward him to see Gena rocking him back and forth, trying to calm him down a bit. I was flooded by emotions. From their unknown source, I could feel fear, sadness, and confusion. Now, I know they weren't my own, as I could feel mine. It was almost like two separate hearts... _I think I know what's going on now.  
_  
"There, there, Sagi." Gena said comfortingly. Sagi got a bit quieter, but not by much. "It's alright. We're heading to a new home now, okay?" Cue louder crying. I sighed, then walked over and sat next to him.

"C'mon, Sagi, cheer up!" I told him in a happy tone of voice. He looked at me, quieting down a bit. "You don't want to worry your mom, right?" Sagi slowly stopped crying. I smiled and patted his head, then stood up. "There you go!" _Wait, why the heck did I do that?_ Well, the other emotions were different. Happy, but still confused, is what I was picking up then. That supported my earlier theory, but I would still need to confirm it. _I'll just need one more piece of evidence. He could have just stopped crying on his own, after all._

I started humming this song that I had in my head. I don't even know where it came from, like most things like now. It was really sad, but comforting at the same time. Heck, I even had lyrics, but there was no way I was singing. That rather was past my line of "Things I'll never do", which has existed for ten minutes. The name started with a L... and that's all I've got.

Sagi seemed to enjoy it. He smiled and pointed at me. "Cool!" He cried out happily. Gena looked at him, stunned. I could see an odd expression on her face. I couldn't quite place it.

"Sweetie, there's nothing there." She told him. Sagi looked at me again, then shook his head. _Wow, he's pretty advanced for a kid who isn't three, or even two by the looks of it._ I just shrugged. My idea had been confirmed. I appeared to be a Guardian Spirit. And it looked like Sagi is the person I'd bonded with. Since he's the only one who can see, hear, or feel me, that's the only conclusion I could come up with. I can't go far away from him, even though I'm not sure of the exact distance yet... "Now go to sleep." About a minute later he's out of it, snoring a bit. Guess he's had an exhausting day. _Now that I think of it, now I'm tired, too. I suppose I should see if Guardians can sleep...  
_

**5 years later**

_Another calm day at Sheratan...not!_ I thought to myself, running after Sagi. I swear that I'll find the source of his energy one of these days! I mean, I made sure he didn't have too many cookies...

"Hey, Naren, I wanna show you something!" Sagi called to me, stopping at the exit to town. He's really excited about it. I ran up by him. He was almost jumping up and down out of excitement.

"For one, it's 'I want to show you something.'" I said, shaking my head. That is a bit of a thing for me. "Secondly, we are not going into the forest. You know I hate that place." I thought for a second, knowing that wouldn't stop him today. "And what if wild animals are by the entrance again? I don't think a caplin is going to pop in and save you if they are." I barley suppressed a shudder. Thinking about that still frightened me. Sagi did, too. Gena hadn't let him have any treats for a week after that incident.

"Aw, come on. It's really cool! And it'll only take an hour, or maybe less! Pleeaasse?" He begged. I groaned. He was giving me the puppy eyes. I really don't like when he does that. Not only do I feel like a jerk if I say no, it shows he really wants to do it. _Heh, I really have softened since I first met him._

"Fine. But if I even think there's an animal nearby, we are leaving. And I don't care if I haven't seen whatever it is yet. Alright?" I asked, giving in. Sagi nodded so fast I thought he would give himself a concussion. _Well, he usually doesn't win, so I'll give him a break._ "Let's go then." He tore off into the woods, using his wings to give him a speed boost. I waited for a few seconds, then was right by his side. He'd stopped to catch his breath. "Now, that wasn't very smart." I smirked. "Save your energy, so we can actually walk home."

"Stop teasing me!" Sagi panted, his face still red from running. I could also tell he was a bit embarrassed. "Now, let's get going! It's that way." He said, pointing further in. This time, instead of running like an olifant on a rampage, he walked like a normal person. That's good for me, since being thrown isn't my favorite thing in the world.

The Thornwoods are the creepiest place I've seen, except for that huge blue church. I also feel really sick here for reasons I don't understand. Add that one to the list. And I always have to be on edge here. Knowing Sagi's luck, he'll run right into a rabid bunnycat. The trees are nearly choked by thorns, and there are ledges and falls everywhere. That's usually where the shawra hide. There's even ballona here, who like to live in places where they can pop. That makes no sense to me. But Sagi seems to like it, so I can handle it. Barely.

We reached a large clearing. I could see a path that led right to Sheratan from here. _Why did Sagi take the long way?_ I smirked once I gave it a little thought. _He didn't want Gena to see him coming. I'll yell at him for it later._ Sagi ran into the center of the clearing. I walked after him.

"It's right here!" He whispered, like it was a huge secret. He pointed into the ground, and I bent down to look at it. It was a weird greenish metal. It seemed like part of a claw from what I could see. I suddenly went cold. _This...doesn't seem right._ "I saw it when I came here last time. Isn't it cool?" He said expectantly. I was still staring at it. I didn't even think I could move. "So, I'm going to dig it up!"

My eyes widened. "You're... going to dig this up." I stood up. "What do you-...Why-? How are you going to-?" _Please tell me he has no idea how to so we can go home!_ Then, I realized I was being an idiot. And slightly paranoid. _It's just some metal thing. No big deal._ At least, that's what I told myself. So I took a deep breath and continued, more calmly then before, "Did you bring anything to dig this up with? Because I don't think your hands are going to cut it for this." I gestured at the metal. _I can't believe I'm going along with this._

Sagi smiled. I think that he wasn't expecting me to let him. "Look at what I have!" He said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a magnus. It was a shovel. "Doc gave it to me when I helped with his plants last week." I remember that. I was the one who told Sagi what to do, but I wasn't noticed due to the spirit thing. So, no magnus for me.

"You really thought this out, huh?" I let out a chuckle. "Alright, but if it's dangerous, you have to run. Got it?"_ Not that I don't think it is already, but..._

Sagi nodded, then used the magnus. A shovel appeared on the ground in front of him. It was a bit big for him, but he still picked it up. Then he started digging.

After about 5 minutes, I could see a claw-like hand. Sagi saw it and started digging faster. I had to resist the urge to back away. The sick feeling I usually feel here started to intensify. _Don't run away. DON'T run away _became the mantra going through my head. _Stop being a clukker!_ I chastised myself. _Sagi isn't even scared! _After about twenty minutes, a whole arm became visible.

"Hey, Sagi? Can we go home now? Gena's probably getting worried." I reminded him. It was actually an excuse, but it was true. Even though she knew about me, she got a bit anxious when Sagi was out of sight. With good reason, since I can't really defend him. Sagi shook his head and kept digging. _He's a stubborn little kid, I'll give him that._ After an hour, I could tell he was getting tired, though. Even though he managed to uncover a torso, he had to take a break. While he sat down, I forced myself to walk over to the thing. It seemed to have a head, or something like it. Where I would expect the head to be, there was a hood with a long slit, kind of where eye holes would be. The hood itself went down to about where a neck would end. I couldn't see anything past the holes, so I moved on. The rest of the torso, along with the other arm, was made of the green blue metal.

"Sagi, we really should head home. Even I know it's getting late! Or do you want to not have any sweets for a week? Again?" I told him. _Wow, I'm being a nag right now. But...I don't like this thing. _I felt something like horror from him when I said the comment about the sweets. Gena is very hard to get mad. But when she's worried... it's best to stay out of her way.

"I'm almost done! Can I at least finish digging it up?" Sagi begged. _Why does he want to finish so badly?_ I thought grumpily.

"Alright. But you have one hour. If we get back too late, we won't be allowed to climb the clock!" I sighed, crossing my arms and resolving not to talk again. Unless an animal comes along, then I'll yell._ Since when did I give in this easily?_ I wondered. _Last year, I would have refused without a second thought.  
_  
After a few more minutes of sitting down, Sagi picked the shovel back up and resumed digging. Now he was digging faster then before, so maybe my talking actually got through to him. Or maybe he'd figured out how to hold the shovel properly. Whatever the case, Sagi got a leg out of the dirt in less then ten minutes. It was attached to a waist that was clearly part of the object. For one, it was wearing an odd skirt made out of the same material as the hood. Another thing was that I'd never seen any type of metal that was close to this. In ten minutes, I could tell that it was now completely out of the ground. And it was a very odd looking thing, too. The legs had these odd feet that were shaped like high-heels. The hood had clips on it, and it looked like some old paramachina. If paramachina made me feel scared and rather sick. It also seemed familiar. And not in the "This is how Mom made pow steak!" happy kind of way. It was a "This is where the machina incident happened" sort of familiar.

Sagi was rather excited by his find. By rather, I mean nearly jumping up and down like he's had a dozen cookies. And, by some strange six year old logic, he pulled the thing out of the hole onto the flat ground by it. While he was doing so, I was frozen, mostly by disbelief. _Did... did he just do that?! _Once he started poking it, I snapped out of it.

"WHAT did you just do?" I nearly yelled. I ran over to him. "Do you even know what that is?!" Sagi shrank back a bit. Seeing that, and feeling that he was shocked and scared, I forced myself to calm down. "Look, sorry for freaking out on you. But, this thing kind of scares me. Just..." I thought about it for a bit. "Tell me next time, alright?" Sagi nodded. I looked back at the thing on the ground. "Well, you finished digging. Let's go home, okay?" He looked at it, then nodded slowly. "Right, now start on home." Sagi then walked on the main path back to Sheratan. I looked back at the thing, then got ready to follow him.

And the hand twitched.

"Holy-!" I cut myself off so I wouldn't swear in front of the kid. Sagi ran right back next to me. I had to stop myself from slapping my face.

"What is it, Naren?" He said excitedly. "Did you see a Thornflower? Or a Yesterbean?" Then I saw lights go on in the eye holes, and the hand moved again. "Whoa!" Sagi gasped. "Did you just see that?"

"Sagi?" I forced myself to say calmly. It was my "Run before the Shawra get you" voice. He'd learned it during the caplin incident. "This is what I classify as dangerous. Get back to Sheratan. Now!" Sagi took two steps backwards, then froze. The thing had just sat up. It put the claw-hand to the hood.

"Where... where am I?" It said, sounding confused. I felt chills run down my almost non-existent spine. It spoke with two voices, a male and female. To me, I could hear the female more clearly. But that wasn't it. What really scared me was how the voices affected me. I felt angry, sad, and scared. "What... happened?"

It still seemed to be out of it._ Sagi should be able to get away... Darn it!_ I yelled in my head. The last thought was caused by the fact that Sagi had walked up to the thing. Now that I think of it, it reminds me of a puppet.

"Are you alright?" He asked, sounding concerned. _Does he not know what dangerous means?_ The puppet looked up at him immediately. It somehow managed a glare. I felt my eyelid twitch. Scared or no, this thing wasn't going to be mean to Sagi.

"Who are you? And where am I?" It asked sharply. I saw Sagi take a step back. I checked his heart: I felt a bit of hurt. I snapped.

"Don't be mean to Sagi, puppet!" I snarled, before Sagi could respond. _Did I just do that...?_ I saw it glare up at me, and its lights turned blue, then the slit was red. I took a few steps back.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Sagi asked, not sounding scared at all. The puppet seemed to snap out of it. "Is something there?" _Tch, like you don't know. But, no one is supposed to be able to see me, so... Man, I'm confused._

"It's... it's nothing." It replied. "I merely thought there was an animal there." _I hope that's all it was,_ I thought, still slightly scared. Something about the puppet set me on edge. Then I looked up and saw barely any light coming through the trees. _Oh, hograts! Gena's going to have my ass if Sagi doesn't come home soon!  
_  
"Sagi, we need to head home!" I told him, barely keeping my voice under control. I was more afraid of a scared and worried Gena than this puppet thing. She knew I was there, and ranted at me for what felt like hours once Sagi was asleep. Ugh. Sagi waved a hand at me.

"Hold on Naren." Why does he want me to wait? "Hey, what's your name?" He was talking to the puppet again. _He really needs to learn to listen to me.  
_  
"Sagi, I don't think-" I started to say, when the puppet spoke.

"It's..." It seemed like it was thinking. _It has a name? Why would someone name that? _"My name is Guillo." Hmph, Guillo? Another thing that sounds familiar. And in the bad way, too. I shrugged the feeling off, feeling like a worry-wart. "What's yours?"

I started to warn him against it, when he answered. "It's Sagi!" He chirped happily. I did hit my head this time. _Grah! Do I need to give him the 'Don't talk to Strangers' lecture again? Wait... how does this thing know how to talk if it's been buried? _"Do you live near here? Or do you need to come back with u- me?" He continued. I could tell he was covering up the fact that I was there. _Wait... did he just invite that to Sheratan?!_

"Sagi! Let's go home! Leave the thing here!" I don't care what Sagi is thinking, that puppet is not entering Sheratan without a fight from me. Before I could convince Sagi further, the pu- Guillo stood up. I actually saw it stagger for a few steps before it started walking normally. I felt my eyelid twitch. _How did I manage that one?_

"Show me where to go." It... commanded? _Oh, hell no!_ I nearly let out another outburst, but resorted to yelling in my head. _You little son of a fluffpup! You're not worthy of living in pow dung!_ And so on. Sagi jolted a bit, then started waling on the path. Back to the village. Once Guillo started walking, Sagi stayed behind a bit.

"Why were you yelling earlier?" I stared at him in shock. _How did he hear that? _"And why were you insulting Guillo?" _Yep, he heard me._

"Um..." I tried thinking of a valid excuse. I didn't find one. "I just don't like that thing." I shrugged. I looked at it as it was walking. "Hey, is it just me, or does it look like a girl to you?" I said hurriedly, trying to change the subject. "I can kind of hear the girl voice more, anyway."

I saw Sagi lean forward and squint a bit. "I can see it a bit. I'm not that sure about the voice though." He smiled a bit. "Sorry."

"It's okay!" I told him, then paused. "Hey, Sagi?"

"Yeah?"

"Gena's going to kill you when we get home for bringing that." I saw him pale, and smirked a bit.

Hey, I'm not a saint!

**Eight years later**

_Warriors flying, fighting, on wings of the heart... People in masks floating, surrounded by light.... A strange silhouette coming forward and stabbing me in the stomach...  
_  
"Whoa!" I yelled, bolting upright. _Holy shit, that was vivid! And why do I keep seeing that?!_ I looked around quickly. I saw Sagi sitting up on his bed, breathing heavily. _Please tell me he didn't have to go through that._

After a few seconds, he looked at me. "The same dream... again. You too, Naren?" _Dang it, yes he did._

I sighed and nodded. "Yes." I replied simply. I mean, what else could I say? I was having a nice dream about Sheratan before that thing came along? Yeah, right.

"Wonder what it means... Such a strange dream..." _Hell, you bet it is! It feels almost as familiar as Guillo did!_ I chose not to share that thought with Sagi. After all, it could have been my imagination. Sagi glanced up at the wall clock. It was a quarter after 1. _Dang, that early? Stupid nightmares. _"There's still a few hours before dawn. Let's try to get some sleep, Naren."

I nodded, then yawned a bit. "No problem. No more nightmares, alright?" I told him, laying down on the table, making sure to avoid the lamp. I heard him lay back on his bed. _Poor guy, that bed is as bad as an uncleaned pow stall. I'd take a table any day._ We were just about to go back to sleep, when another serviceman ran in. Sagi sat up immediately._ Huh? What the heck is going on?_

"Servicemen!" I saw the guy in the other bed sit up. "The captain's called an urgent meeting in the strategy room. Rise and shine!" _Aw man. I'm still tired... _After his message was delivered, he ran back out. I sat up, let out another yawn, then looked at Sagi. He was sitting on the bed sideways, looking down.

"A meeting in the middle of the night?" He muttered. "I guess we do have to earn our keep..." I nodded, feeling a bit worried. His mind was still on the nightmare, apparently. Then he pulled out his wings, went in the air and did a flip, then landed on the ground. He put his wings away a moment later.

"Show off." I called to him. _And, he's not even remotely tired anymore!_ I saw him smile a bit.

"Alright, my wings of the heart are good to go." He said cheerily. I slid off the table and went over by him. "Ready, Naren?"

"Of course!" I replied, then let another yawn out. "Okay, at least halfway ready." Sagi gave a quick chuckle, then headed to where he had stored his Will magnus, then put it in his pouch._ Eh, that's not that good of a magnus, but oh well. _I checked his heart again. There was no trace of the nightmare from what I could tell. _Good, mission accomplished!  
_  
After we left, I saw a mass of soldiers heading to the strategy room. It made me wonder how many people were supposed to go to the meeting. From what I'd heard, also known as eavesdropped, most missions were for groups of about 5 to 6. I was seeing about twenty in the hall. They were all running, but I bet I could have beat them in a race. Speaking of which...

"Hey, Sagi?" I grinned at him. "I'll race you to the safety flower. No wings." Okay, so I was being a _little_ bit immature. But, I'd been ignored since we got to Alfard!

Sagi rolled his eyes. "What for this time? You'll let me buy an attack magnus?" He asked sarcastically. I resisted sticking my tongue out at him. _Stay mature. Come on, it's not that hard... Even when you want to collapse on a comfortable bed somewhere..._

"Not this time." I smiled wider. "If I win, you have to listen to me during the mission, no matter what." I paused. _What can I offer in exchange? _Then it hit me. "And if you win, you're in charge of our money for a month." _Ha, bet he wasn't expecting that!_ Then I realized what I'd just said. _Oh shoot! If he agrees, there is no way I can lose!_

"Alright, but no whining if you lose!"_ Hm, he's acting odd... Oh yeah. He does this when he's tired. Well, I'm acting like an immature brat. We're very weird..._

"Three." I counted, not responding to his comment. "Two. ONE!" I yelled, and we ran our butts off. Sagi kept having to shove through the crowd, which was fine by me. Although I did hear a bit of grumbling from the servicemen. I just ran on through, reaching the stairs a few seconds before him. _Wow, he's gotten fast..._ I thought as he nearly ran by me. ._..But I'm still faster!_ I finished as I reached the flower. Sagi arrived a second later, panting. "Yeah! I won!" _Okay, self control back now._

"Yeah. You did." Sagi said slowly as he entered the flower. Suddenly he wasn't tired anymore. Well, not tired from running. But he was a bit annoyed. "But you don't get tired. You just sleep when you're bored." He continued his tired grumbling as he entered the strategy room.

"I didn't cheat, Sagi. Now stop talking to yourself." I smirked. _Oh, it is so fun seeing his reactions when I'm tired. And in a bad mood. It's not even two yet! _I defended myself mentally. Before I could finish, we had walked in.

After we entered the strategy room, I had to resist the urge to groan. It was the captain who had handled the initiation. I had learned he does not know when to stop talking. Sagi saw him and had the same reaction.

"You're late, newcomer!" He barked. "Hurry up and take your position!" As Sagi headed to our spot in the back of the group, I said a few... inconsiderate things about the captain. Once we reached our spot, I sat on the floor. The captain looked around and nodded. "Let's begin the briefing." He started pacing. "Tonight's mission is an assassination." I sighed and shook my head. _Why couldn't we have a monster infestation, like we did in the army? Killing is not something I want to do._ "The target..." I saw him press a button, and a big fat guy in expensive ropes appeared in a hologram. "...is Emperor Olgan." _What the-? Won't we face a firing squad for that?! _The rest of the servicemen started yelling, talking to each other, and asking questions. I looked at Sagi. He looked shocked, and I checked his heart. There was a wall-like thing blocking it. _What the heck? That's never happened before!_ The captain looked around and took a deep breath. "Shut your traps!" He yelled over the noise. "Attention!" The entire group sprang to attention. Even me, I'm sorry to say. Sagi looked back at me and sighed a bit. I once again had the urge to stick my tongue out at him. _Okay, I'm going to make sure he gets a cup of coffee soon, and I don't care if he doesn't like it!_

"As you were." All of us went back to normal, with me sitting cross-legged on the floor. The captain continued speaking. "I certainly share your unease. But as you know, the Imperial Dark Service does not answer to the emperor." I rolled my eyes. _Of course not, since we're going to kill him. That one Bale-something guy is in charge._ "We're Lord Baelheit's private guard." _There we go!_ "I don't see why these orders should come as a surprise." After he said that, he paused for a few seconds.

"Do you remember learning that?" I asked Sagi during the quiet. He shook his head slightly. "Then again, you never did finish that Dark Service guide..." I stopped talking, since the captain had started lecturing again. _Geez, when will he shut up?_

"Our duty is to take action whenever his lordship requires it- nothing more, nothing less. Are we clear?" He asked. The group saluted in response. I decided not to, since I was getting annoyed with how long this was taking. It was before two in the morning, for the god's sakes! The captain nodded in, seeming satisfied. "Consider this mission Code S." _On no, please tell me no!_ "All Servicemen are authorized to use paramachina."

"Oh, hell no!" I yelled out of habit. "I have to deal with her again?!" Luckily, only Sagi heard me, as usual. Maybe that was a good thing, too. Sagi didn't seem to happy with my reaction. I couldn't tell because of the wall-thing blocking his heart. Which was annoying me to no end.

The captain turned to technician by the control panel. "Open the lockers!" He commanded. _Okay, someone really needs to learn to be polite._ The guy didn't seem to mind.

"Yes sir!" He replied, sounding full of energy. I was rather shocked. _I wonder how much coffee he's had?_ I wondered as he entered the unlock code. _He sounds wide awake!_ After he stepped away, I could slightly hear the hiss of machina gas. The captain turned back to us.

"Retrieve your paramachina and head to the rendezvous point. I'll provide further instructions there." By now, my attention was starting to wander. I'd been expecting a briefing, not a lecture. So, my thoughts started to turn elsewhere. _...I wonder what would happen if pow yogurt got mixed together with mountain apple wine?_ Outside of my odd thoughts, I felt a bit bad for Sagi. Not only would he have to kill someone, he'd have to listen to this guy talk his ears off. "I'm also going to break with protocol and issue blank magnus." _Sure, we're breaking the law, why not protocol? _Then what he said got through to me. _Wait, blank magnus?! Sweet! I've wanted some for ages!_ "Use them during your mission to store and transport the magna essence of whatever you need." He stopped right by the middle of the table and looked around. "That is all. Dismissed!" The group, except for me, saluted the captain again. Then they scattered, stopping by the door guard to pick their magnus up. A few people stayed behind, Sagi and me included.

"Assassinate the emperor? Leave it to the Dark Service to handle the dirty jobs..." He trailed.

"Hear, hear!" I agreed. Then I noticed three servicemen behind Sagi staring at him. I realized at the same time that he wasn't being nearly as quiet as usual. _Ok, this probably wasn't the best place for this conversation..._

"A high-ranking confidante sends his own men to strike down his master..." He shook his head. "And not just any master. This is the emperor we're talking about... It doesn't get much dirtier than that." I nodded, and then noticed a sliver haired lady looking at Sagi. _I know her from somewhere... _"Then again, Naren..." He continued, sounding happier. _Huh? Is he actually getting excited about this?_ "This could be our lucky break." I had to resist a violent urge to hit Sagi on the head for that sentence. "I bet you never thought the emperor would go down like this." He paused, like he was waiting for my reaction. The lady walked out, and I took a deep breath.

"Ok... twenty seconds to explain." I said, sounding calm. However, I was ramming what ever part of me that was connected to Sagi against the wall. After getting through, I made sure he could feel what I thought about this mission. Sick, worried, angry, and sad to name a few. While I'm no fan of Olgan, I didn't think he should die. I also noted Sagi's emotions. I could register shock, and something that could be best described as something dark under it. It reminded me of something, but I couldn't quite place it. During this whole time, I was counting. He had twelve seconds left.

"Plus," Sagi said rather quickly, "we could use the money to put food on everybody's table!" I stopped counting. _Four seconds left... nice job._

"Alright, that's a better reason." I nodded. If he didn't have a good reason, I would have made sure he had a week full of migraines. "Nice job staying within the time limit, too." I grinned at him.

"There's no way I'm passing up this chance. Are you with me, Naren?" He asked. I took a few seconds to think about it._ I don't really like this mission. Add the fact that Guillo will be joining us..._

"Are you sure about this?" I asked slowly. Hey, if I had to deal with the sarcastic puppet, he had to be sure. That didn't seem to be the smartest thing to say.

"Of course I am. Why would I hesitate?" He replied, sounding unnerved. _Shoot! I can't believe I just did that. _"Come on, let's go." He continued.

"Alright. Now, let's go get our magnus!" I cheered. I am... slightly obsessed with magnus in all forms. I actually scared Sagi when he was a kid because of it... but it was a sale straight from the Empire! In Hassaleh! I immediately slapped myself so I wouldn't, as Sagi put it, 'freak out on him'. _I need to stop doing that._

We headed to the door, when the guard on the left stopped us. "Everyone's been issued eight blank magnus. Here's your share." He said, passing the said magnus over to Sagi. _Oh boy, oh boy! This is amazing! I wonder what I can do with them!_ I once again hit myself, only harder this time. _Stop acting like a child!_ I scolded myself. "You clear on how to use these?" The serviceman asked. Sagi took a quick look back at me.

"Crystal clear!" I reminded him. A week ago, I had nagged him for magnus instruction guides. Luckily, they were only about five gold each. I love sales! Sagi nodded to the Serviceman.

"All right, head to the locker room, pick up your paramachina, and head to-" The guy was cut off as the control panel suddenly caught fire. _What the hell?! How did he manage that?_

"The control panel's on fire!" The operator screamed. _No freaking duh!_

"Sagi, grab some water. Now!" I shouted. The place may have been awful, but I didn't want it to burn down! Or up since we're underground. Mostly, I didn't want it burning down since we were inside it! The other servicemen turned to the fire.

"Someone get some water over here!" One of them shouted. Well, they at least have some common sense. The guard by us looked at the fire... and smiled. I'm not kidding, I could see him smiling under his mask! _What is this guy on?!_

"Now's your chance, kid." He told Sagi. "Store some water form the barrel and use it put out the fire. Quickly now!" He waved Sagi towards the barrel, which I could see had some stale looking water in it. Sagi didn't need to be told twice. He pulled his wings out, rushed over, drew the magna essence out(book 3, paragraph 9) and flew to the fire. I guessed that the technician was panicking, since his eyes were wide and it looked like he would pee himself any second. Well, at least in my opinion.

"Hurry up and douse it with that water!" He cried out, his voice almost unbearably high. I winced. _Yep, he's panicking._ Sagi lifted the magnus up, focused his will into it, like the book said, and a small waterfall pelted the fire. It went out a second later. The operator took a few deep breaths, then turned to Sagi, wiping his forehead. "Whew, thanks. Take this for helping me out." He reached into his pocket and got an herb magnus out, the passed it to Sagi. I examined it, then snorted. _Not that good at all. A low potion could do better! But, it does help if someone's poisoned. Eh, I won't sell it._

After that, we headed toward the door. The guard stopped Sagi again. I resisted the urge to back away. I was debating whether he was crazy or something. But he smiled at Sagi, so I guessed that he wasn't mad about the fire.

"Smart soldiers use their magnus to help with their missions. There's more to it then storing and releasing magna essences-" _Do you think we didn't know that?_ "-but you'll learn about that as you go." _Not likely, since I've already memorized the manuals. _The guy reached into his pocket. I tensed up a bit, since I was still doubting his sanity. "I've got one last thing to give you. Take it along in magnus form." He pulled a book out. Sagi stored the book in our magnus, and I immediately noticed an almost-transparent copy floating by his head. _Now, that isn't slightly creepy._ "Use it to record mission progress and objectives as you go, so you can refer back to them later. All right, off you go." He waved us off. _Yes! Finally, we can get away from the crazy guy! _Sagi gave a quick sigh of relief, then went to go sit down in the safety flower. He used the magnus with the travel log, and it fell down in front of him, along with a pen. After writing whose log it was on the cover, he turned to the first page and started writing. I looked over his shoulder and laughed. He wrote it rather formally... kind of like when I slip into 'perfect sentence mode', as he called it when he was a kid. But, his writing wasn't the neatest. And as for spelling...

"Sagi, you misspelled 'assassinate.'" I told him, pointing at the word. He sighed, then scratched it out and rewrote it correctly. Yeah, defiantly not the neatest. After he finished, he stored the log, which was by his head again, and headed down the hallway. Thinking of who I'd meet in the lockers, I let out a groan.

_Now, this will be SO much fun!_ I thought sarcastically.

________________________________________________________________________________  
_**  
Now, that was... long, wasn't it? I swear, I'm not writing a novel or anything! On a side note, do you know how hard it was not to take a LotR title for this chapter?**_

_**So, did you like it? Please review! And, in case it does happen, flames will be used to fuel a True Flame Ice Fury attack, so don't do it. OK? Glad we understand each other.**_

_**And if you're wondering, this was over 7,900 words... dang.**_


	3. Chapter Two: Filler Number one

_**Wow, I'm not dead! Huzzah! Sorry if I took a long break, but writer's block pops up at the worst times. Like after you just got a few reviews. And sorry if the fight scene stinks, but I didn't really know what to do with it. Really, I'm sorry. Okay, I really need to stop doing that...  
Oh, and three reviews! Not to mention a favorite! Yay! *skips around in a Support Malpercio suit* Er... I didn't write that. Anyway, thanks to **_**Fan Fan Girl**_**(you're really awesome, you know that?), for noticing my errors! Seriously, what was I thinking? I need to go change that... And also, thanks for the favorite,**_**kuro-kitsune-neko**_**! You all get...er... Marno plushies! Yay! ...Okay, I don't really know what to give. But those are good, right?**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Baten Kaitos Origins. Marno would have gotten more lines if I did. That would be pretty awesome, actually...  
**_

* * *

**Chapter Two: _"I think this line is mostly filler"_**

As Sagi walked through the hall, I tried to find some way to ignore what our mission would be about. It was rather hard, seeing as we were headed to get Guillo, who we needed for said mission. After realizing it would be pointless, I sighed then looked up.

I saw the silver haired lady from the strategy room leaning against the wall. She looked up at Sagi, and for some reason I did not like her smile. Not one bit. Despite the fact she had chased off about a dozen Servicemen who tried to fight us. _  
_  
"You know, you might want to watch your mouth there, ghost boy." She called out to him. My temper flared. _Ghost boy? What the heck?! Does being a spirit get you no respect at all? Not cool!_ She straightened up then walked toward us. Well, she could only see Sagi, so I guess she wasn't technically walking towards me..."The Service is filled with men a lot scarier than you. And if they catch wind of what you said in there..." Ironically, as soon as she finished that sentence, three Servicemen ran out of the strategy room. I saw them look around, then send a triple death glare at Sagi._ Perfect. More trouble. _"Now see? What did I tell you?" she continued as she shook her head. _What is her name? It starts with a V, I know that much. _"If you want to stay alive, you'd better learn to keep a low profile." With that cheery statement, she walked off. I could swear I saw a smirk on her face.

However, I didn't have a lot of time to think on that, since the three still-glaring soldiers ran over to Sagi. Knowing what they were probably here for, I automatically checked how they were standing. It was my job, to see where the enemy was weakest. As much as I dislike her, Guillo did have some useful ideas.

"Hey, tough guy?" The guy on the left yelled at us. Even when his helmet was down, I could hear a sneer in his voice. "You think what we do is dirty, huh?"

"Yeah, your point?" I replied to no one in particular. Well, I guess since Sagi could hear me... _Oh, wait! _"Get your magnus out." I told him, nodding at the group's ready guns. I saw him reach into the pouch around his waist, where our oh-so-lovely magnus are kept. I did a quick mental checklist. _We have 4 weak power ups, 4 medium power ups, 4 strong power ups, a punk knife augment, Sagi's main sword, a reusable low potion healer, our new herb magnus, Will, Scencion, and a cheap suit of leather armor that Sagi never uses. We should have a good chance._ After living with him all his life, I had learned to think fast hanging around Sagi all the time. I swear, he'd poke a thunderfish while it was sleeping to see what would happen.

"Little runt." I flinched. _If they lay one hand on him... _"When Lord Baelheit tells you to do something, you keep your mouth shut and do it." The soldier on the right spoke up this time. I wished I could punch them all in their faces and have them feel it, but since I was a spirit, no chance.

"Yeah, we don't need any snot-nosed punks in our ranks." The way the other two nodded, so I was guessing this was the leader._ Take him down first. _I saw he was leaning too much on his right leg, so he'd be off balance a bit. _That will make this easier. _"Maybe we can beat some sense into you!" _Okay, he's going down anyway!_

"Alright, your ass is mine!" I yelled at him. Sagi took this as his cue to release his sword from the magnus and get into fighting position. I once again wished they could hear me. Having that yelled at you by a transparent spirit might be a bit unnerving.

For some reason, Sagi has the best luck when grabbing magnus at random. Not that I'm complaining, but still. First he pulled the punk knife out, and added onto his sword. Then he got really lucky and pulled Will out. Once he used it, I could see his strategy, knew the three were not going to enjoy it one bit.

"Sagi, get the leader's left leg!" I directed him, and he nodded, pulling a few more magnus out of the pouch.

The main guy shot at him, which he ducked under, but dropped one of the magnus he was holding. I couldn't see what it was. However, that same guy was attacked by a combo of a weak power up, medium power up, then a strong, and it was rounded off with Scencion. While the sudden drain in energy does take some getting used to, I though it was awesome. Sagi also got his left leg with the Scencion, so he went down. He probably would have been downed anyway. While the other two were staring in shock, Sagi looked back at me. I pointed and the first person who talked, then at his right side. Nothing more needed to be said, and after a medium attack and a strong one, he went down easily. However, our punk knife magnus's effect wore off after that, and one guy was left. That guy took his chance and shot at Sagi's arm. Luckily for us, and we have really good luck apparently, it only grazed him. But through our link, it still hurt. I hope he enjoyed that Scencion! That weak and strong power up must have hurt, too.

I smiled and got ready to give Sagi a high five with his uninjured hand, when I saw the leader crawl over to where Sagi magnus our dropped. _Okay, screw our luck. _We'd dropped our low potion magnus, which he used on himself, and shot Sagi's leg before I could warn him. I let out a stream of curses as Sagi dropped his sword and grabbed where the shot had landed. Then, he then used _my_ magnus on his friends that were laying on the ground._ How did he get up after that attack?! He was hit harder then the others! Probably had a stupid armor thing on..._

"Hmph, is that all you've got? I expected more from a spiriter." The leader guy taunted. After that, I was ready to unleash any power I had to get rid of this guy. He made we want to kick a fluffpup to death and eat it raw. And I think fluffpups are awesome. His friends started laughing.

"Heh, maybe his spirit's off taking a nap right now." _C'mon, anger management. Don't get mad, don't get mad... _I could feel Sagi was already starting to get pissed, and I didn't want to add on to that. _Anger makes you stupid, remember?  
_  
"Seriously," the other one laughed, "it's not like we can even see it. How do we know it's real?" _Okay, screw staying calm._

"Do you want to die?!" I growled at them. Yes, growled. Not a very happy spirit right now, let me tell you that. Sagi also was not very chipper, to put it lightly.

"What, are you calling me a liar now?!" Putting it very lightly. We wanted to shove a sword through their faces. And then laugh as I figured out how to light them on fire. Okay, maybe the last part was just me. Maybe. Forcing down our joined anger slightly, I tried to figure out a way to beat them still. I noticed the leader had a really loose grip on m- our magnus. _Okay, that works._

"Let's shut them up! Sagi, grab our magnus back!" I ordered, and he immediately did so, using it so he could stand up. He grabbed his sword again and got ready to fight. I noticed he was holding Scencion. The stupid group got their guns up. Right as Sagi was about to beat their asses into next week, however, I heard a very unwelcome voice. Okay, maybe he wouldn't have beat them into next week. Only a few hours ahead.

"What's going on out here? Get to your stations, now!" _Great, -Talk is back!_ The captain had walked out of the strategy room, and was heading towards us. The three idiots turned around, saluted, then ran past us. The leader pushed past Sagi on purpose._ Don't tell Sagi to strangle them. Murder is bad, remember?_ That thought brought the mission back into my head. I started walking over towards the lockers like the captain said, forced myself to stop, then turned around.

"Sagi, wasn't it?" The captain asked, walking forward. He nodded. "You've got guts, picking a fight so soon after joining up." For some reason, Sagi seemed to think he'd have to fight the captain, and tensed up. I sighed and hit him on the head. It doesn't hurt, but it does get his attention.

"He's not going to do anything, calm down." I said, shaking my head. Strangely, the captain started laughing.

"Now, now, no need to get defensive." _Point proven._ Sagi went back to normal. "We've got high hopes for you, spiriter." As much as that made me happy, I could tell the captain was going to keep talking. _Let's hope this will be quick._ "After all, legend has it that you and that guardian spirit holed up in your heart are going to sway the fate of the world." _Yeah, I'm that awesome. _I couldn't help smiling. Sure that captain talked a lot, but he was good at making a person feel important. "Anyway, you'd better hurry up and get ready. The lockers are down that way." He pointed down the stairs. "Get moving." As he walked back to the strategy room, I shook my head.

"Why does everyone tell us where to go? We're new, but we're not stupid!" I complained as we headed down.

"Well, he is the captain. That's his job." Sagi reasoned. _Why does he have to be right? Can't I just ramble on for once?_

"Well, yeah. But still." I wasn't going to give up on this. One soldier had told us where our room was, when we were right by it! It didn't make much sense to me. It was either that, or they had gotten some pretty dumb new guys here. I stayed quiet as we walked into the locker room. Once we entered, though, I couldn't help but groan.

"Sagi, can't we grab someone's paramachina? Guillo would never have to know." I offered, looking at the wonderfully silent machines. They did the job, never complained, and never made some odd animal reference. I envied all the Servicemen who had one.

What did we get? Why, a talking puppet thing that was sarcastic, of course. _So_ much better. Oh and you can't forget the fact I could not relax around her. Then I looked over at our locker. _Wait, she can see Sagi through that. So, my plan won't work. Oh well._

As Sagi headed over to his locker, choosing to ignore my advice, I sat on the huge wooden table that was in the middle of the room. Most of the lockers were empty, and the other Servicemen were nowhere in sight. _Great, we're probably late, then._ Right before he finished entering the code, Sagi looked back at me.

"Alright, Naren. Time for us to get ready, too." I just waved my hand at him, resigned to my fate. _Goodbye, quiet. I'll miss you._

Once the code was confirmed, the clear glass covering the locker popped open. And out popped the most annoying thing in the universe, Guillo. Okay, that might be a _tiny_ bit of bias on my part, since I still feel slightly on edge around her. She immediately started doing a few stretches, ending with a one-handed handstand.

Sagi half-laughed. "You looked a little cramped in there, Guillo."

"Cramped?" Guillo responded incredulously. I have to say, even after five years, the two voice thing still creeps me out a bit. "You know that sensation is lost on me." I felt my head starting to hurt already. _I really don't want to deal with her this early... _She jumped to her feet. "Is it finally time for action?" Oh yeah, she's been stuck in here the entire time. _Now, I feel a bit bad for her... Oh well. She's not complaining._

Sagi looked around a bit before answering. He could have just asked me, but I guess it didn't really matter. "Yeah. But try to keep it down." He whispered. "Paramachina can't talk, remember?"

"Those lucky people." I muttered, knowing full well that Sagi could hear me. Guillo then stood at attention and didn't say anything. _Thank the gods! We have a silent Guillo!_ For some odd reason, everyone but Sagi and Mom get on my nerves. I don't know why, but it's true. Guillo just goes a little farther than everyone else.

Sagi did laugh then. "There you go. That's more like it." Then he turned to me and took a deep breath. I slid off the table. "Well, here goes! Our first field mission. Are you ready, Naren?" I rolled my eyes. _We've done field missions before this! Just not filthy Dark Service ones._

"You know it!" I replied, giving him a thumbs up sign. I hope my smile looked convincing. _Never mind the fact that this mission is going to suck, thanks to the objective. Alright, I'm going to make the best of this. I prepared for this before we came, anyway.  
_

"Glad to hear it. I know we've been over this, but you and I need to be as like-minded as we can. The more we get along, the better magnus we'll draw during combat." My interest was piqued at that. _Really? I hadn't known that. Maybe I was half asleep or something._ _Man, I really need to pay more attention._ He went on to explain what he meant, but saw me drumming my fingers on the table. No noise, but it got the point across. "Anyways, the choices you make determine how well we work together. I'm counting on you, Naren!"

"Leave it to me!" I had a sudden urge to do a back flip, but resisted it._ Don't be a show-off like Guillo. You probably wouldn't make it, anyway. _I had a mental image of me falling on my back, and winced. _Yeah, I'm not going to try._

"Now that's what I like to hear! Come on, let's go." With that, Sagi turned to leave. Guillo walked after him, and I just waited for when I'd be launched. After about 10 seconds, I felt the tugging sensation and decided it wasn't worth it. Sliding off the table, I shook my head. _Way too early to be launched, thank you very much._

After running to catch up, I decided to stay quiet. Sure, thinking aloud is helpful sometimes, but I do like keeping a few thoughts to myself. After giving it a few more seconds of thought, I decided to help Sagi the best that I could, no matter what we had to do here. _Okay, so I should start planning then... Joy. This is even more fun then running through the Thornwoods._

On our way over to the exit, I noticed a group of two Servicemen and a paramachina. They had their guns out and were looking around. I had to resist the urge to groan. _For the love of the gods, can't we get a break?! Please?  
_

Apparently, the gods have no pity. Either that, or they're sadists. As soon as we walked in front of the group, one of them decided to yell.

"Hey, you're the twerp who just joined up, right?" The one closest to us called. I sighed and motioned for Sagi to get his magnus ready. _These fights are happening WAY too often lately. _I saw the other guy leaning toward Guillo, then he broke into a quick laugh.

"Wait, what it THAT?" He cried out, pointing at her. I could hear him chuckling still. While this was not the best time to laugh with him, I saved this memory in my mind. _This will be interesting later. Maybe for when I could use a laugh. _"Is that your paramachina?" He continued, but now he sounded a bit worried. _Hey, is a Serviceman actually worried about us? The only one other then Valara, I'm in shock. Oh, that was her name! Ha, I remembered it! _"It's ancient, kid!" The other guy started snickering, then walked behind his paramachina.

"Code S stands for Special Ops, not screw around." He shot at us, entering some sort of code into the machine. "Get a clue loser!" The other Serviceman looked nervous. _Hm. Come on, he was in our initiation ceremony... David! I'll try and have Sagi go easy on him._ Guillo seemed to catch the hint, and took her magnus out from wherever she kept them. Releasing the claw things that enhanced magic, she looked over at Sagi.

"Hm, this battle might be too much for you alone, provided their guns sting more than their wit." She noted calmly. I could see her getting a combo set up. Looking over her shoulder, I smirked. _Okay, Sorcery Sophia augment, weak, medium, strong, Firewheel... Oh, that's gonna hurt._ "I'll act on my own for the time being. You just worry about yourself." Sagi gave her a grateful grin. Hey, say that 10 times fast.

"Okay. Thanks Guillo!" He replied, keeping an eye on the paramachina. I sighed, but nodded. _This isn't going to take long._ A few seconds later, the machine jerked upright, and so did David. The one guy I did not know the name of gave a nod and raised his gun. Then, Guillo started attacking. Let me make a note here. I don't like Guillo that much. However, I happily admit she kicks ass. Before Sagi could even move, she equipped her augment and knocked the first guy out with her weak and medium attack. I grinned as his helmet hit the ground. _One down.. Oh, there goes the machina._ Without missing a beat, she had used the strong power up and her Firewheel special on the paramachina. It went down in a broken mass of flames. All of that was in the time it took Sagi to pull his wings out and draw a hand of magnus. Which, I noticed, was a perfect combo ending with Scencion. Before he attacked, I shook my head. _Wow, that was cool._

"See if he wants to surrender." I advised, nodding towards David. Sagi gave me a quick look. I shrugged. "It didn't look like he wanted to fight, anyway." Sure enough, he had already laid his magnus gun on the floor and backed away. I looked past the smoldering remains of the machina, and saw the first guy was sitting up and shaking his head. He winced slightly, then glared at us. _Serves him right. You don't try and attack Sagi._

"Wh-what's with that paramachina?" David stuttered, looking between us and the robot that used to be a good fighting machine. "I thought it was an old model!" I smiled a bit. _Who knows what she is. Not even I do._ The guy who started all of this spat on the ground next to him. I saw a few spots of blood. _Okay, Guillo _might _want to tone it down a bit. We get in serious trouble if they're sent to the hospital._

"Meh, forget it. Let's just go." He tried getting up, but fell on his knees. As David ran over, holding a potion magnus, he glanced at Sagi.

"Take a magnus or two from my deck, okay?" Sagi blinked. I understood. This was the closest someone was to being nice to us, except if you count Valara stopping us from having to fight someone. Which had happened a lot since we joined up a week ago.

"Why?" He asked, still blinking. Guillo remained quiet. A very good thing. If the Service found out she wasn't a paramachina, we'd be kicked out. If we didn't die from this mission. _Okay, stop thinking about it already! _David shrugged.

"You beat us. We have to pay you. Plain and simple. Oh, and take the 50 gold by it, too." Turning back to the guy on the ground, he didn't say anything else. I smiled, walking over towards the magnus. _Decent guy. Hope he lasts more than two weeks._

"Hey, Sagi!" I called, waving him over. "There's another low potion in here. And a punk knife!" Now that I concentrated, I could see transparent copies of every magnus floating over the deck. There was only about 15 of them. _Hey, that's kind of like me, almost totally see-through, but not quite... _Ignoring the thought, I waved Sagi over. Still looking puzzled, he stood next to me.

"How do you know that?" He whispered. I scratched my head. Another nervous habit. "You haven't done that before." _Huh, I guess he's right. How did I do that?_

"I... don't really know." I responded eventually. It was the truth. "I just concentrated on the deck." I paused again, since Sagi was grabbing the magnus and gold off the ground. Once he stood up, I smiled. "In fact, I can see your travel log floating around your head right now." I noticed the Serviceman, who was still kneeling on the ground, was glaring at Sagi and Guillo.

"Damn it, what the hell do you want?" He growled at them. It seemed like he was trying to intimidate us or something. All he managed was giving me a reason to chuckle. Guillo seemed to share my thoughts.

"It's true. The weakest do curse the loudest." She said quietly, and I could hear a hint of a laugh in her voice- er, voices. Sagi looked at both of us and sighed.

"Let's just leave them alone. Come on, let's go." He shook his head, and walked toward the safety flower. Guillo followed silently, and I laughed a bit more, then ran over. It turns out that he just wanted to write a bit. After having me look it over, and this entry had a only a few misspellings, he returned it to the magnus form. Looking at the copy, I had an urge to poke it. Surprisingly, it actually moved when I touched it. _Did... Did that just happen?! Oh, hell yeah! _I was understandably happy. I hadn't been able to affect anything my whole life, unless you count Sagi doing what I told him to. _I wonder if I can write in it..._

As I was mentally throwing a party, which included all of Gena's sweets, Sagi was walking over to a Serviceman who was staring at an unlit torch. Once I actually noticed, it seemed odd.

"Sagi, what are you doing?" I asked, still slightly out of it. He stopped, then looked back at me. I was sitting in the middle of the safety flower, holding the travel log and it's accompanying pen. While the cover had previously said "property of Sagi", it now read "**P**roperty of Sagi _and Naren, who can spell properly!" _Okay, I like to brag. Big deal, right? Shaking his head slightly, he looked over at the Serviceman.

"He looks worried." He responded, looking back at where I was sitting. I gave him a slight frown. _I think I know where this is going. _"I want to see if we can help him." I slapped a hand to my forehead. _First helping Doc out and doing errands for Sis when he was a kid, and now this. Why?_

"Do we have to? We're going to be late!"I reminded him, looking at the clock above the strategy room. It said that it was 2: 45. _Wow, it is early._ He just smiled and walked back over. "Fine. But anything that happens is your fault!" I sighed, looking down to the log. _Should I put my battle tips in here? ...Yeah, he usually forgets most of them..._

"Um, excuse me?" I looked up. Sagi was standing over by the Serviceman. "Is something wrong?" The guy turned around, and then gave Sagi a huge grin. That made me feel a bit worried.

"Hey, new guy!" He replied at once. "You came at the perfect time!" Sagi gave me a quick look.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." He muttered. I just smiled. _Maybe you should have listened._

"Now you think that?" I replied, looking back at the log. _Okay, so I should put magnus help down first... _The serviceman seemed to ignore what Sagi said, and looked back at the torch.

"See, too many men took the magna essence of the torches when getting ready. Now," he waved an arm at the torch by him, "they've all gone out. So, the captain came by and told me to relight them all with some fire." _I_ _think I know where this is going... _From the look on Sagi's face, I think he did, too. "The thing is, all of my blank magnus are filled with water." I saw Guillo get her Firewheel magnus out. _Hey, I thought a torch would be just fine. But.. that would be pretty fun to see, too._ I saw Sagi shake his head slightly, and she put it away. _Aw man..._ "So, standard operation says it's your responsibility to take over." _What?! But it was your job!_

"Standard..." Sagi seemed to think it wasn't true. I agreed with him. "Wait, why me?" The guy just waved a hand at him.

"Oh, simmer down. New guys always get these kinds of jobs." I just snorted. _Right. I bet you just don't want to do anything. _Sagi, while not being as obviously rude as me, still had a look on his face that clearly said he wasn't buying it. The guy sighed, then looked around. "Look, I'll give you something nice when you're done, okay?" _Okay, that's better! I wonder if it's a magnus?_ I could feel myself getting excited. Even if I had no idea what the reward was, it would probably help us out. Sagi felt it too, since he looked at me, then sighed.

"Eh... What do you think, Naren?" From the way he said it, I guessed he already knew my answer. I let go of the log and stood up. _Might as well make sure._

"Let's do it!" I replied. I felt my obsession with magnus start to come forward, but beat it back. _You don't even know if it is a magnus yet! _Sagi sighed again, then looked at the Serviceman.

"Ok, fine. I'll do it." He told him, rubbing his forehead. _I guess he just wants to get to the residence... Oh yeah, plan! I'm in charge, so I need to think this through._

"Hey, hey! Atta boy!" The guy all but shouted. "What a decent guy!" _I thought this was supposed to be standard._ I looked over at Guillo. She had put her claw hand to her forehead, or the general area where one would be, and was shaking her head. Luckily, no one was paying attention to her. "If you face the torches and use a flame magna essence, that should do the trick." _Back to the plan... Wait, I don't even know how this is going to work! Now I wish the captain had talked more. Wait, what?_ I looked over at the Serviceman. He was telling us where we could find fire. I'm not even joking, do they all think we're stupid? _More evidence. I think I might be able to give a good argument if I have to. Not that anyone would really hear it._

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_**ARGH! I can't write! Most of this chapter was forced, so it wasn't my best work. As the title says, I believe the area is mostly filler. And the Dark Service headquarters is just kind of boring to write. I know I probably could have done better, but... Sorry. *slaps self* Darn it! And this probably wasn't worth the wait. I, heh... Kind of thought I uploaded it already. Silly me! **_

_**Okay, anyone who believes they have to flame, it will be used to fuel a True Crimson Sky tooth. Other than that, feel free to review and HELP ME!!! Please?**_

**_Oh, and a Sagi plushie to anyone who can tell me where the title came from!_  
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